[BJWilliams]

We conclude looking at the offensive side of the ball by looking at PA's favorite position...


Players Returning:

Tommy Shaver (R-Senior) 8 Rec 104 Yds 0 TD
Steven Wilkes (R-Junior) No 2010 Stats
Brandon Apon (R-Sophomore) No 2010 Stats
Patrick Gibson (R-Sophomore) No 2010 Stats

Players Lost
Matthias Wrede (graduation)
Francis Bah (converted to DL)

Players Incoming:

Dexter Herman 6-2 230 Lbs (Midd-West High School Beaver Springs, PA)
Michael Johnson 6-3 220 Lbs (Atlantic Shores Christian Chesapeake, VA/Longwood University)
Dominique Davis 6-5 240 Lbs (Lafayette High School Buffalo, NY)
Eric Fath (converted from LB)
Justin Gunn (converted from DL)

Tight ends have not really been an integral part of the LU offense in recent memory except as a sixth blocker for the running backs. There have been a couple that did make some impact in the passing game (Corey Rasberry took a redshirt year as a senior and came back the next year and finished 6th in receptions and made all conference. Will Quarles the next year tied for the team lead in Rec TDs with Chris Summers). Tommy Shaver had quite a few passes thrown his way but he was plagued with "alligator arms" at times and dropped a few of them. Regardless, he will come into camp in August as the unquestioned starter at TE. Wilkes or Apon will probably come in when they go with a 2 TE set and maybe will get a chance to catch a few passes as well.

[RVAparks]

Impressive to see a transfer from my undergrad alma mater Longwood. We have a nationally renown football program.

[BJWilliams]

As it turns out, he played baseball at Longwood but from what I can tell, walked onto the football team here.

[Cider Jim]

PAmedic's favorite position, and since since we have an incoming TE from PA, medic may begin developing another one of his man-crushes soon.

Tight ends have never really been an integral part of the LU offense except as a sixth blocker for the running backs.

Eric Green called, and he said he disagrees.

[BJWilliams]

PAmedic's favorite position, and since since we have an incoming TE from PA, medic may begin developing another one of his man-crushes soon.

Tight ends have never really been an integral part of the LU offense except as a sixth blocker for the running backs.

Eric Green called, and he said he disagrees.

fair point Cider...I should have added "in recent memory"

[LUnpretty11]

Apon has hands as good as any receiver on this team. That's where he started out, so if Rocco wants to incorporate a great receiving TE into his offense, we'll see much more of Apon than Wilkes, and maybe even Shaver. But with how he moved Wilkes from DE to TE, I'm not too convinced a great receiving TE is the direction he is heading toward. The threat of having a solid receiving TE really enhances the playbook IMO.

[SuperJon]

Rocco's always liked a TE he could throw to. Shaver's that guy. He proved the last half of the season that he could catch the ball. Unfortunately he missed an easy one at JMU that would've won the game. Wilkes is just gigantic and really athletic. The question is can he get the mental aspect of it to be the player his body is capable of.

[BJWilliams]

We really havent had a TE that was an integral part of the offense (at least in my time at LU) since I would say Jay Cline (although Will Quarles did have 4 TDs, he only had I think 9 receptions the whole year. If we got 15-20 catches out of this position that could really open up the field for the WRs because itd be another player to have to cover and that would lead to more single coverage situations and the possibilty grows for mismatches

[SuperJon]

Beej, you're thinking if we don't use a TE like a WR then they're not an integral part of the offense. Four TDs for a TE is a lot. The fact that most of us can name the TEs under Rocco is a testament that they've been impact players. From Richard Thom to Corey Rasberry to Will Quarles to Tommy Shaver, we've had some good tight ends that came through in big moments.

[BJWilliams]

Chris Luck was a TE too right? You do make a good point though Jon...I guess watching Coastal burn us with Duran like they did last year got me really thinking about how we use our TE...but youre right in that these guys have made an impact.

[LUnpretty11]

Our TE's should be getting at least 1 rec. per game IMO.

[NG33]

Our TE's should be getting at least 1 rec. per game IMO.

I don't think that's out of the question with how much I think we'll be throwing this year. Our TE's are more than capable to catch a few balls during the course of a game (at least I hope).

[SuperJon]

Yeah. I forgot about Luck. I knew I was forgetting about one but didn't have time to check old rosters before I had to flush.